Now researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore think they have the answer – a never-before-seen type of black hole, according to their paper in Physical Review Letters.
‘They are very compact, red objects, seen as they were within roughly the first billion years after the Big Bang,’ the study’s co-author, Loris Del Grosso, tells Metro.
‘At first they were puzzling because they did not fit either of the obvious explanations.’
Dr. Sue-Ann Mok discusses efforts to study the earliest stages of tau aggregation using single-molecule mass photometry. The work aims to identify harmful tau species and support the development of targeted diagnostics and therapies.
Structural insights reveal how IL-36R is activated by distinct cytokines and antagonized by spesolimab.
Microchimerism is the presence of cells from one individual in another genetically distinct individual. Pregnancy is the main cause of natural microchimerism through transplacental bi-directional cell trafficking between mother and fetus. In addition to a variety of cell-free substances, it is now well-recognized that some cells are also exchanged in pregnancy. Furthermore, it is now known that microchimerism persists decades later both in mother and in her progeny. The consequences of pregnancy-related microchimerism are under active investigation. However, many authors have suggested a close relationship linking fetal microchimerism and the development of autoimmune diseases. Fetal microchimerism is emerging as a potential contributing factor in certain diseases, including cancer.
In 1974, the University of Melbourne’s chemistry professor Richard Robson had the idea of replacing the wooden balls and metal rods used in structural models with molecules and chemical bonds. He began experimenting with copper ions linked by a four-armed organic molecule, creating a structure with a cavity. His work laid the foundation for metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of porous materials formed by linking metal ions with organic molecules. Their pores can capture pollutants, support chemical reactions and store gases, giving MOFs a wide range of potential applications.
MOFs exhibit exceptional properties arising from their porous structures that are difficult to achieve with conventional materials, enabling applications such as gas storage, separation and pollutant capture. These unique properties also make MOFs promising candidates for functional devices, such as chemical sensors and electronic devices. However, their delicate structures can be damaged during dry etching, a process that uses energetic particles, such as ion or electron beams, to remove material and create patterns.
And could enable scientists to link brain injury to behaviour.doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-02967-7
A new neural network component, developed at University of Michigan Engineering, challenges a common assumption in robot learning: that the same general-purpose neural networks used for image recognition are equally suited to controlling physical movement.
In image classification, a neural network maps an image to a label but does not change the image. During robotic motor control, actions—like a humanoid robot moving a limb—change the robot’s physical state, which in turn changes what sensors observe next.
Robot movement and goals involve multiplicative relationships among physical variables. For example, the forces acting on one joint depend on the positions and velocities of other joints, while quantities such as mechanical power and contact multiply forces and motion.
Fitting tidal turbines with flexible rubber blades could enable the machines to generate cheaper power by making them simpler and tougher, a study published in the journal Nature suggests.
Rubber blades that change shape in strong currents can generate as much electricity as today’s most advanced designs, without the complex machinery they need to survive at sea, researchers say.
Their findings show the blades naturally bend to shed excess force, reducing by up to one-third the rapid swings in load that wear turbines out.
A fresh look at Einstein’s equations suggests that “sheets” of gravity can sometimes snap and reconnect, similar to magnetic field lines on the sun.
While many researchers left the DNA vaccine field, Fuller remained, expanding into RNA vaccines as well. After COVID-19, several researchers jumped into studying mRNA’s potential for vaccines and therapeutics. It looked like mRNA had finally broken nucleic acid vaccines into the mainstream.
However, in August 2025, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) canceled $500 million in funding related to mRNA vaccine research under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). Some contracts, like a late-stage investigation on an influenza vaccine from the biotechnology company Arcturus Therapeutics, were allowed to continue. Others, like mRNA vaccine studies exploring a Marburg vaccine from Moderna, were canceled. Nonetheless, the action sent a shockwave through the mRNA vaccine research community. Later, in February 2026, the FDA initially declined to review an application for an mRNA-based influenza vaccine, disagreeing with the use of control groups in the study. The agency reversed its decision two weeks later.
In response to these events, some researchers are concerned about the future of mRNA technology research and how the US’s disinvestment in it will impact public health. Others, including Fuller, believe that the promise of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics won’t come to a grinding halt anytime soon, but the change in the US’s support for the technology could shift where the next big breakthrough happens.
